• Ex-Foreign Affairs Minister Thanks Jonathan
FOR former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, and former Chief of Army Staff, retired Major-General Mohammed Chris Alli, the maxim that honour should be given to whom it is due was aptly demonstated last week when the Federal Government listed them for the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) honour.
Alli was military governor of Plateau State from August 1985 to 1986 during the military regime of former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida. In November 1993 when Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan was ousted by General Sani Abacha, Alli was appointed Chief of the Army Staff, a post he held till August 1994, when he was removed by late Gen Sanni Abacha.
In 2004, following sectarian crisis on the plateau, he was appointed interim administrator of Plateau State after a state of emergency was declared on the plateau by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was given the Commander of the Federal Republic honour (CFR)
Born on January 4, 1942, Akinyemi, a professor of political science was External Affairs Minister from 1985 to late 1987. He attended Igbobi College in Yaba from 1955 until 1959, Christ's School in Ado Ekiti from 1960 to 1961, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1962 to 1964, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, US, 1964 to 1966, and Trinity College, Oxford University, England, from 1966 until 1969. He was a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and at the Diplomacy Training Programme, University of Nairobi, Kenya, both in 1977.
Akinyemi was also Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) from 1975 until 1983. He was given the CFR honour.
Meanwhile, Prof. Akinyemi has thanked Jonathan for the award. He said it was gratifying that the president recognised the contributions of other Nigerians rather concentrating on current office holders, as was the practice.
According to him: "I am grateful to the president, who has done what no other person has done: to have recognised what I have done in the past in this country. For that, I am grateful to him.
"I also noticed that the list (of awardees) contained a lot of names of people, who made contributions in the past to the progress of this country.
"This is a welcome development from past practices when the list used to be full of present office holders.
"The president deserves congratulations for this. Thank you, Sir."
The Guardian